Furano and Biei Flower Fields: When They Bloom and When to Go

Many travellers fly to Hokkaido in August because it is the school holidays, only to find that the lavender has already been cut. It happens every year, because the lavender season is much shorter than people think.

The Flower Calendar Across the Season

Furano and Biei have much more than lavender, but the lavender weeks are the busiest and the shortest. This table gives an overview of the whole season.

When	What you will see
Late May to June	The fields start to colour, early flowers and mixed beds begin to bloom, very few visitors, cool and pleasant weather
Early July	Lavender starts to bloom, the colour is coming through but the beds are not yet full
Mid to late July	Lavender in full bloom, the peak of the year and also the most crowded time
August	Most of the lavender has been cut, but sunflowers and mixed flower beds are still in bloom
September	Cosmos and late-season flowers, the fields begin to fade, noticeably fewer visitors
October	The flower season is over, but the surrounding mountains turn red with autumn leaves
December to March	The fields are under snow and most farms are closed, but the Blue Pond at Biei is open and lit up at night

If You Can Only Go in August

Do not expect lavender, because the farms harvest it soon after it peaks. The photos of whole purple hillsides are taken in mid-July, not August.

August is still well worth the trip if you change your focus. The mixed flower beds at Biei are still full, the sunflowers are in bloom, and the weather is much cooler than elsewhere in Japan.

How the Farms Differ

The two towns have dozens of farms open to visitors, but only a few genuinely different types.

Traditional Lavender Farms

Farm Tomita in Nakafurano is the most famous, and the origin of the Hokkaido lavender image everyone knows. Entry is free. There are lavender beds stepping down the slope, a perfume distillery, and a sweet shop selling lavender ice cream and pudding. Its only drawback is that at the peak it is so crowded that taking photos is difficult.

If you want lavender with fewer people, there are several municipal farms and hillside gardens nearby. Some have a chairlift up the slope so you can look down on the fields from above.

Biei’s Multicoloured Flower Fields

Biei lies just north of Furano. The focus here is not lavender but many kinds of flowers planted in bands of colour across the hills, which from above look like striped fabric. The most visited spot is Shikisai no Oka, which is so large that a tractor-drawn wagon takes visitors around the beds.

The advantage of Biei is that the fields stay beautiful far longer than the lavender, because different flowers are planted in rotation throughout the season. In August, when Furano is finished, Biei is still in full colour.

The Blue Pond and the Hill Views

The Blue Pond at Biei owes its turquoise colour to minerals dissolved in the water, with dead trees standing in the middle. It is a completely different scene from the flower fields and can be visited all year. In winter the pond is lit up at night, which gives it an entirely different atmosphere.

Around Biei there are also roads along the hills where farmers grow crops in fields of different colours, known as the Patchwork Road, along with several solitary trees that became famous after appearing in advertisements decades ago.

Something to Respect, Not Just Good Manners

Almost all the beautiful hills and coloured fields at Biei are working farmland that local people make their living from, not public parks. Walking into the fields for photos damages the crops, and farmers have complained about it for many years.

In 2016 one very famous tree was cut down by the landowner, who could no longer cope with tourists repeatedly trespassing and damaging his crops. It was major news in Japan, and it is the reason there are now no-entry signs at almost every spot.

Take photos only from the roadside or from the viewpoints provided. Do not park on narrow verges, and do not walk along the field edges even where there is no sign.

What Time of Day to Go, and Getting Around

Lavender smells strongest in the morning before the sun gets hot, and morning light brings out the purple far better than the harsh afternoon sun, which washes the colour out. If photographs matter to you, reach the farm before nine, which is just before the first tour coaches arrive.

What makes this area harder to tour than it looks is that the farms are spread far apart. Furano and Biei are about thirty kilometres from each other, and each farm is some distance from the nearest station. In the busy season an open-sided sightseeing train runs between the two towns, which is lovely, but it runs only a few times a day and stops at only some stations.

It is also worth knowing that Hokkaido in July is cooler than many visitors expect. Days are comfortable, but mornings and evenings can drop into the low teens Celsius, so bring a light jacket.

This area is the clearest example of a trip where having a vehicle changes the whole day. Because the farms are scattered and local buses are infrequent, a car lets you reach the first farm before nine and cover both Furano and Biei in a single day.